Principal Sponsors
Makes grants to address the most serious social and environmental problems facing society, where risk capital, responsibly invested, may make a difference over time.
National Science Foundation
An independent federal agency created by Congress in 1950 to promote the progress of science.
King Saud University seeks to become a leader in educational and technological innovation, scientific discovery and creativity through fostering an atmosphere of intellectual inspiration and partnership for the prosperity of society.
The O'Donnell Foundation is devoted to building model programs to enhance the quality of education.
Density
Why do objects like wood float in water? Does it depend on size? Create a custom object to explore the effects of mass and volume on density. Can you discover the relationship? Use the scale to measure the mass of an object, then hold the object under water to measure its volume. Can you identify all the mystery objects?
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Teaching Resources
Main Topics
- Density
- Mass
- Volume
Sample Learning Goals
- Describe how the concept of density relates to an object's mass and volume.
- Explain how objects of similar mass can have differing volume, and how objects of similar volume can have differing mass.
- Explain why changing an object's mass or volume does not affect its density (ie, understand density as an intensive property).
- Measure the volume of an object by observing the amount of fluid it displaces.
- Identify an unknown material by calculating its density and comparing to a table of known densities.
Tips for Teachers
The teacher's guide (pdf) contains tips created by the PhET team.
Teaching Ideas
| Title | Authors | Level | Type | Updated |
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Density Lesson (with Putty Lab)
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UTeach Middle School PhET Team | MS | Lab | 6/22/12 |
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Relative Density - sink or float
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Jackie Esler | MS | HW Lab |
5/16/14 |
Density: How Does Density Relate to Mass &Volume and an Object's Interaction with Water?
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Trish Loeblein | HS UG-Intro |
CQs HW Lab |
7/5/13 |
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Density and Buoyancy
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Milton Johnson | MS HS |
Lab HW |
10/18/10 |
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Concept Questions for Chemistry using PhET
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Trish Loeblein | UG-Intro HS MS |
CQs | 7/9/13 |
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Concept questions for Physics using PhET (Inquiry Based)
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Trish Loeblein | HS UG-Intro |
CQs | 7/7/13 |
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Algebra-based Physics Semester one lessons, clicker questions, and schedule in pdf (Inquiry Based)
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Trish Loeblein | HS UG-Intro |
CQs HW Demo Lab |
9/21/14 |
| Pool Cubes 1 - Density | Dean Baird, Paul G. Hewitt | HS | Lab | 10/19/14 |
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PhET Sims Aligned to the Chemistry Curriculum
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Julia Chamberlain | HS UG-Intro |
Other | 7/15/14 |
| Density Lab | beverly eason | HS | HW | 7/6/13 |
| Density-MS | Tamara Sneed | MS | Other | 11/27/11 |
| Density and Buoyant Force PhET Lab | Chris Bires | HS UG-Intro |
Lab | 2/8/11 |
| Φυλλάδιο Παρατηρήσεων πειραμάτων μέτρησης πυκνότητας | Παπανικολάου Γεώργιος (M. ed.) | MS | Lab | 10/2/14 |
| Εργαστήριο Πυκνότητας | Ιωάννης Λεύκος | K-5 | Lab | 10/9/12 |
| 밀도 SIM 사용지침서 | 이화국(Wha Kuk Lee) | K-5 MS |
Lab Demo |
5/9/13 |
| Densidad de solidos | daniel cruz ochoa | MS | Lab | 9/16/13 |
You can submit your own ideas and activities.
Related Simulations
Translated Versions:
Software Requirements
| Windows | Macintosh | Linux |
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Microsoft Windows XP/Vista/7 Macromedia Flash 9 or later
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OS 10.5 or later Macromedia Flash 9 or later
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Macromedia Flash 9 or later
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Credits
| Design Team | Third-party Libraries | Thanks To |
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